‘English fluency and being handsome not everything’: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s scathing attack at Sachin Pilot day after his sacking

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today took a sly dig at his former deputy Sachin Pilot, saying that English fluency and being handsome matter little in politics. “Speaking good English, giving good bytes and being handsome isn’t everything. What is inside your heart for the country, your ideology, policies, and commitment, everything is considered,” the Chief Minister told reporters this morning.

Gehlot’s comments came a day after the Congress party sacked Sachin Pilot as the Deputy CM of Rajasthan and president of the state unit of the party. Sachin Pilot had revolted against the Chief Minister and camped at Haryana’s Manesar with 18 other loyalist MLAs. The 19 MLAs, including Pilot, have been issued notices by the Assembly Speaker asking them to respond within two days. The Speaker’s action came on the recommendation of the Congress party which has sought their disqualification.

Speaking to reporters, Gehlot argued that it was wrong to insinuate that the older generation of leaders had blocked the progress of the younger generation. “I have been in politics for 40 years, we love the new generation, the future will be theirs. This new generation, they have become central ministers, state presidents if they had gone through what we did in our time, they would have understood,” Gehlot said.

Speaking good English, giving good bytes and being handsome isn’t everything. What is inside your heart for the country, your ideology, policies, and commitment, everything is considered: Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan Chief Minister pic.twitter.com/xHS5WzajWb

— ANI (@ANI) July 15, 2020

The Chief Minister further alleged that attempts to destabilise the Congress government in the state had begun well before the Rajya Sabha elections. “Horse trading was being done in Jaipur, we have the proof. We had to keep people at a hotel for 10 days, if we had not done that, the same thing that is happening in Manesar now would have happened back then,” the chief minister added.

The infighting in the state unit of the party escalated after Pilot was served a summons by the SOG of the state police asking him to come and join a probe into a case of alleged attempts to topple the government. Pilot and his supporters saw this as a brazen humiliation of Pilot and said that working under the leadership of Gehlot was no longer tenable.